Beautifully Imperfect
by AliasStars
Summary: Len Kagamine is known around Yamaha high for being very blunt and honest. He tells girls exactly what he thinks of them, resulting in many tears. So what happens with Rin, girl of many flaws? Will he tear her down like the others, or will she teach him the beauty of imperfection? Rin/Len!
1. Chapter 1

**New story! I'm actually kind of sad, because one of my favorite authors put up a really heart wrenching good-bye/nongood-bye thing on all of her stories:(**

Anyways, yes, this is a new story from an idiot author! Enjoy!

It wasn't that Len hated girls. He'd grown up with two of them, his sister and mother, and despite it all, he still looked for one thing that would forever cause him to split away.

Flaws.

He had the worst habit of finding flaws within a girl, and pointing them out to her on the spot. If any girl confessed to him, he'd list every one of her imperfections, lowering her to tears. He was an untouchable. Cold-hearted. Absolutely indifferent when he crushed someone's heart.

"You're loud, whiny, and you gossip behind your friends's backs. You wear excessive makeup and you complain about everything. You're the reason two girls left to France in the summer. So no, I will _not _go out with you."

He was known by now as the devil boy throughout Yamaha High by now, and it was no surprise. The girl's bottom lip quaked and she let out a tearful squeak, taking a step back. Her eyes shot wildly about and Len raised an unfathomable eyebrow. He took one menacing step forward, and in a flurry, she raced away.

By this point, it was safe to say this was a normal happening. Nobody cared anymore. Len had turned down girl after girl, telling them each and every flaw of theirs.

He turned a cold shoulder to tears, he was short-tempered to a tee, and knew every secret about a girl with one glance to her eyes.

All except for _one _girl. Who was, at the moment about to crash into him. Seeing no avoidance, Len flinched slightly, preparing for impact.

As predicted, said girl slammed violently into him, sliding easily on the wet floor.

Stiffening instinctively, Len righted her. His arms roped around her forearms and she stumbled in his grip again.

"I'm s-s-sorry," she blurted out quietly, adjusting her glasses. She seemed to want to look anywhere but at him, and it was slowly getting on his nerves. "I'm really s-s-sorry, I'm s-s-such a k-k-klutz-" She rambled as she picked up her books. Her nervous stutter was annoying and severely impacted the clarity of her speech. (**stutterers out there, feel no offense. I still love you guys. xD) **"-and it ap-p-pears I c-c-can't see things v-v-very well-"

"..." Len narrowed his eyes at her and fixed her with an unfriendly glare.

Here she was, in the flesh. The one girl he could _not _read front and back

Rin.

Rin Kagamine.

Rin was so flawed that it took Len a lot of willpower not to sit her down and tell her everything that was wrong with her. Despite being extremely smart and foreign, Rin was short and could be potentially violent. She was extremely clumsy and once she started talking with that stutter of hers, it was hard to shut her up. She had _no _figure- and honestly, if it weren't for her feminine face it could be easily assumed that she was a male.

Despite her not very redeeming qualities, Rin was actually somewhat pretty. Her blonde hair was always clipped back and she blushed constantly. She had bright blue eyes and anyone could see that she was rarely complimented by the way color constantly rose into her cheeks after any sort of praise whatsoever.

She was stubborn and kind of annoying at times, not to mention she couldn't see two feet in front of her without glasses. She tripped over everything and apologized a ton. And she stuttered- Not as a condition, but out of sheer nervousness and terror.

He turned his back on her abruptly and walked away, causing Rin to shut up. Shyly, she watched him go and then she shrugged, smiling.

She always knew there was something about Len Kagamine that was somewhat quirky.

~Beautifully Imperfect~

Rin slipped into class, pushing her glasses up her nose. It was a mindless mannerism- one that Rin had adjusted to by now. She sat at her desk, shrinking away from any threat of contact.

"Rinny! It's awful!" there was a slam on her desk and she looked up, startled. Miku was leaning onto her desk, causing it to creak slightly. Feigning tire and being overly dramatic as usual, Miku looked down at her best friend. "I- hey, why is your face all red?"

Confused, the girl tilted her head. "My f-f-face is red?"

"Oh, Rinny. Such innocence. I presume you had a run-in with one of the members of the male gender?"

Rin stared at Miku like she was an alien. "How d-d-did you know?"

"While your strong point is Calculus, my dear Rin, mine is boys!" Miku winked and hopped off of her desk. "Anyways, I need to borrow your math homework."

"Miku" Rin sighed exasperatedly, smiling softly. "Cmon, it's like second semester already. Why won't you do your homework?"

Miku grinned sheepishly at her friend, laying back on to the desk. Miku was so pretty, so vivacious and bubbly and bright. And Rin, she was quiet, hated people's company and strayed away from affection. Of course, at this point of time, only Miku knew why Rin acted like this.

"Rin, pleeeease? I'm reaaallly sorry! I need it or I won't-" how could Rin deny her? She sighed, cutting Miku off with the brandishing of homework.

"Here, Miku."

"Thank you Rin! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" Miku raced back to her own desk to copy down the homework. Rin's eyes scanned the rows. "I lurve you!"

Rin laughed quietly and copied down the problems on the board. Her mind thinking back to the event that had taken place before, Rin's heart gave a little flutter.

Since middle school, Rin knew that Len hated her. Every time he saw her, he'd give her a scary sort of glare and walk away. He never said a word to her and if they were ever assigned as partners Len would silently do his work and never speak about it.

What exactly had she done to piss him off? Did he just hate her existence or something? What was going on? Rin didn't want an enemy of Len- that would be the end of her. But she did want him to stop glaring at her and treating her like she was some kind of personal hell of his.

And she still didn't know what she'd done.

**_Well? Read and review, please!_**


	2. Chapter 2

**People who were nice enough to review, thank you! I haven't seen one like this either so I hope I'm not copying... O.o**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter!**

Looking back on it, Len realized that he shouldn't have run into Rin in the halls afterwards. She stood there for a moment with that silly, sweet grin on her face- And it caused him to just, just get angry. She hadn't even been looking at him- Instead at a poster on the wall, clutching her books.

So... So imperfect.

He'd ended up in front of her, arms on either side of her head.

He shouldn't have said some of those things to her.

_"You could be a _boy _if you wanted to, with a figure as flat as cardboard- And what's with that annoying stutter? In fact, the only thing all that good about you is the fact that you're smart. And if it weren't for that, nobody would look _twice _at you."_

The worst part was that Rin didn't cry. Unlike the other girls, she stood for a moment, gazing at him with unfathomable blue eyes, and then she shrugged her thin shoulders. A sad smile, coupled with glassy eyes, gave him the impression that he'd barely even told her anything that she hadn't heard before.

It broke him a little bit on the inside. Just seeing her give him that _broken _smile. Len pressed his fist to his mouth and snarled at the table. She hadn't said a word to him. The girl barely looked his way. And what had he done?

This was a policy that, until now, Len had never gone back on. The idea was that only if a girl confessed to him, he would point anything out. But if she had no business with him, he had no business with her.

So what had caused him to go ballistic on Rin?

~BI~

Rin felt just a little torn up on the inside. She had come up to the roof while the rest of the kids ate lunch in the building, and now she was thinking about what had just happened. In all actuality, she hadn't even known what she'd done. She'd just been standing there and suddenly- His hands hit the wall on either side of her head.

Suddenly, he was yelling at her, a silent yell, but a yell all the same.

Suddenly, he was furious- and furious at _her- why was he mad at her?_

Blurting out every thing wrong with her from her height to her stutter to her _every single imperfection..._

It had hurt so badly, but she'd said not a word and instead smiled complacently. Inside, though, Rin shattered to pieces. She knew she would never be as perfect as Len wanted. Or anyone wanted, for that matter. She hated that. Miku was perfect. Her own mom used to be a supermodel. And Rin... Well... She was just Rin. Flat, figureless, and totally imperfect.

But she didn't need stupid Len Kagamine to tell her that! She hadn't even said anything! Now Rin felt like crying, but decided against it.

"Oi, Rin!" Rin was suddenly face to face with a grinning Mikuo. He shoved a sacked lunch towards her and ruffled her hair. "Can't get by us if you skip lunch, stupid." Rin grinned lopsidedly and accepted the lunch.

"Gosh, Ring-a-ling, you look awful." Miku said, concern in her voice. People knew that Rin and Miku were close, but not many knew that Rin and Mikuo were, if not the same, even closer. "What happened?"

Rin's smile faltered at the edges and her resolve slipped. She found herself looking away from the twins. Mikuo reached out, knuckles pushing into the blonde's head forcefully. "Hey, Rin. Tell us! You can't get away from us!"

"Leave her alone!" Miku threatened to throw her book at him. "Honestly, give her space."

"It's just," Rin's lip quivered. "Why does Len hate me?"

Mikuo paused mid-bite, his mouth full of chicken. He raised an eyebrow at Miku's disgusted look and swallowed. "Len? Who cares? That guy's just a ba-"

"Mikuo!" Miku said loudly, cutting her twin off. "Rinny, did he say something to you?"

"No," Rin paused, nibbling at a piece of clementine. "He said _everything. _He blew up at me in the hallway for no reason, and I-" she suddenly found it hard to swallow. Picking up a juice box, she felt the prick of tears in her eyes. "He just started listing every _imperfection _of mine. D-Do you guys think I'm that bad?"

"Oh, Rin!" Miku cried, hug-attacking her friend. "I'm so sorry! I remember when the jerk did that to me, and oh, I was so _crushed!" _Mikuo slowly shook his head, scowling at his sandwich like it had done him wrong in a past life.

"I don't understand," he said exaggeratedly, "why you girls go back to him anyways! If you've seen other girls get ripped apart-"

"But that's the thing," Rin said softly. "I didn't say a word to him, and he just... He suddenly got so angry, exploding like... Like a time bomb or something..."

Mikuo and Miku exchanged glances with each other and Miku set down her creative mix of leeks, celery, and other various greens. "Well... Maybe he's jealous!"

Mikuo and Rin both let out a snort at that. Mikuo looked up at Miku's glare and rolled his eyes. "Calm your jets, Mi. I was snorting at the celery. As for your comment, maybe he is jealous, Rin. Cause you're so smart and everything."

Rin rolled her eyes, relatively calmer now. "He's not jealous, but it just... It just sort of hurt." she concluded quietly. Mikuo comfortingly patted her shoulder.

"Now, listen, it could be worse. You could be Miku after he rejected her. She bawled in her room for the next three days, throwing a fit and listening to Skrillex." Miku threw him a dirty glare and folded her arms. With a "hmph!" she resumed daintily crunching on a leek.

"Anyways, Rin, don't let it get to you. We love you, right Mikuo?" The tips of the male's ears flushed red and he scowled again, nodding slowly.

"Yeah, yeah, we love you."

She continued to smirk in a rather sugary way at him as she leaned over to comfortingly hug Rin. Patting the younger's back, she continued speaking. "And how about today, we go to the mall? We can have a marathon at Hard Off again." her eyes sparkled. Rin smiled a little at that.

Suddenly, the door flew open and the roof's three occupiers looked up in surprise. There, in all his dark glory and angry-young-man stature, stood Len.

And he was looking at Rin.

And the next words out of his mouth were, "We need to talk."

**Well? How was it? REVIEW PLEASE :D**


	3. Chapter 3

Rin almost spit out out her food. "Wh-What? I-I-I-"

"Just come with me," Len scowled, grabbing her arm and hauling her to her feet. The food spilled from her hand and fell onto the floor. Rin sputtered protests and Mikuo got to his feet.

A touch of menace flickered across turquoise eyes and Mikuo wrapped his hand over Rin's shoulder.

"Just where the hell," he began silently, his eyes darkening in synchronization with his tone. "Do you think she's going with the likes of _you?"_

_"Downstairs." _Len whirled on his heel, giving Mikuo a megawatt glare. "And the likes of _you _won't stop me." He gave Miku a sharp nod and turned again, dragging Rin for emphasis. Mikuo and Miku exchanged shocked glances, but they were both ignored. He pulled her harshly down the staircase, causing her to almost fall flat on her face.

"L-L-Let g-go of m-me!" she stammered, red in the face. "I c-c-can walk!" Of course, to add to her immense embarrassment, as soon as he let go, she almost tripped right over the top step and really did fall. Len caught her collar and scooped her up like a kitten. Cold ice met tropical waters, and he shook his head, dropping her. Rin blushed, and he grimaced before grabbing her upper arm and pulling her some more. "Wh-Where are w-we g-going? Let me go! Ouch, ouch, ouch-" Rin shook her arm, where Len's grip was cutting off her beloved blood circulation.

Len released her, then, and Rin looked around. They were at the school pond, one of her favorite places. Barely anyone ever came here, and that was just how Rin preferred it. But she didn't know that Len loved the place too. At her questioning look, he let out a heavy sigh.

Eyes dark, he sat down on a slightly mossy rock and Rin followed lead, sitting across from him. Suddenly, it was _exceptionally _awkward to meet his eyes, because he'd just blown up at her, not two hours ago.

She winced slightly. He noticed.

"Look," he said in a brittle voice, and Rin flinched. She edged away, expecting even more verbal abuse from the male's part. He twitched, hating the look of fear on her face but knowing that he very well deserved it. "I'm sorry."

"E-Eh?" From Rin's part, there was only a confused sound. He nodded quickly.

"To get to the point, it was wrong of me," he said dutifully, "To say all those things to you, it was- Ah, -" Here he paused, and Rin continued to shy away from him. This movement of hers frustrated him more than imaginable. Why was she constantly so scared? For goodness sake, he hadn't even done anything to her yet. He might, if she continued to act like this. "It was...Cruel."

To his surprise, Rin had straightened up and was glaring at him. So, the kitten had claws. Who would have known?

"You can't just," she waved her hands wildly, a storm raging in her head. After the things he'd said about her, to her, she wasn't even able to eat. And the pain that was associated with all of it- How could he expect to apologize and just walk away? "You c-can't just _s-say _those k-kinds of things and just - and just apologize." she hissed.

He frowned at her.

"Honestly, you just about... You ruined the rest of my day and I didn't even say a word to you." she retracted her hand and blinked. "Who, exactly, d-do you th-think you are?"

"But," he said in a voice as fluid and smooth as river, "You're used to those words, aren't you?"

He never saw her hand coming. With a motion like a whip, Rin's hand cracked across his face with crystal clear sound, the sharp noise rising into the air and fading into the sky.

Rin was bent over, hands on her legs. She looked up at him, her eyes watery with anger, and Len, numb with shock, gazed icily back.

"How dare you," she spat, without even an extra syllable. "How dare you pretend you know me and say such things?" She pointed at him directly, her index finger about as dangerous as a sword. "You listen to me, and you listen well. Nobody in this world is perfect."

He raised an eyebrow at that, leaning back against the rock.

"I don't know what your quest in life is," she drew her hand across her eyes and her voice caught. "But you will _never, _and I repeat, _never, _find the perfect person, because _nobody _is perfect. There is beauty in our flaws, Len Kagamine." she rose to her full height. "You just have to find that beauty and _revel _in it, because if you don't," her glasses flashed and glinted, "If you don't, you will be _alone_ for the rest of your life."

With that, she spun on her heel and stormed away, pushing branches aside with a fervent, raging passion.

Len's jaw hurt.

He shouldn't have made that stupid assumption about Rin's intriguing past, but her words hit him with a much harder impact than her palm. How could that _silly, _insignificant girl make such a comment against him? She wanted war, she was going to get war, and Len had an army ready.

_Just you wait, Rin Kagamine. I'll make you swallow everything you said, word. By. Word._

~BI~

"I told you," giggled the girly voice. Miku emerged from the leaves, a few tangled in her shiny turquoise locks. She rolled her eyes at Mikuo and offered him her hand. "I told you our little Rinny had the fire in her."

Mikuo grabbed Miku's hand and hauled himself up. "Right, right, you win. But why did we have to follow them?"

"You were curious, too!" Miku cried. "You were curious and I know it. Don't you lie to me, Mikuo Hatsune."

Mikuo threw his hands up in surrender and tucked his hands in his back pockets. "Honestly, though, that guy is a jerk. Do you think he really knows what happened to Rin in the past, or do you think he's just faking it to make Rin feel worse?"

Miku shrugged, but then angled herself so her upper half was twisted towards Mikuo. She gave him a chilling smile, and the voices of the lake seemed to hush for a few moments. "Either ways, we'll just have to make him forget, won't we?"

~BI~

"C-Can I please go out with you, Len?" there was a cry from the opposite corner of the room where Rin was standing. She turned, as did everyone else. However, as soon as their eyes fell upon the devil boy, everyone but Rin turned back.

Rin watched Len's eyes scan all the way from Lily's golden head to her pink sandals. Finally, he shook his head. His eyes flashed as he began to speak- Words that would crush Lily on the spot.

"You are not _smart," _he said coldly. "You haven't passed a single test since the beginning of the year. You press and you are too clingy. You never drop an incident and forget about it. And honestly, this pink getup and your hair in braids doesn't make you look sweet and innocent at all. Or whatever look you're going for. I will _not _date you." And with the dismissal, he brushed aside her tears as he turned on his heel, walking nonchalantly down the hall.

Rin's jaw quivered with rage and her fingers tingled. She had the urge, yet again, to smack Len. She grudgingly- Very grudgingly -had to hand it to him- His observational skills were excellent.

_Watch out, Len. I'll show you how beautiful imperfection really is._

**Done~ And thus, the drama heats up and Rin snaps! Oh, what shall await us in further chapters?**

**Review please~ **


	4. Chapter 4

**Ugh, guys. Summer is kicking my butt, as awful as it sounds. ._. I have summer exams, health, gym, and a course in nanoscience that I have to deal with and between that, fanfiction was just cast down in priority order. Somewhere between all that schooling and vacation, I developed the worse case of writer's block and even thought about discontinuing some of my stories D: But then I thought that as long as SOMEONE is reading these, I'll keep writing.**

**So thanks, guys. Please review, it means literally the world to me. (That being said, thank you **Adorable Reader **for reminding me that you guys do read and somewhat like my excuses for stories^^)**

**And thus I present to you: Beautifully Imperfect.**

* * *

There was a slam, and Len frustratedly entered the room. He clicked it shut behind him and sat down at his one rickety desk, the desk he'd requested the teacher to change every day since the beginning of the year.

His head was awhirl with a million different thoughts, and they were causing chaos in his head. His mom, several date propositions, his car's engine busting, _Rin. _Why was she even _in _his head? God, she was annoying him. He felt like a time bomb. The last time Len had been this irritated, he'd ended up accidentally driving into a mailbox.

To further chuck wood into the flames of his burning irritation, Rin headed into the room and casually took the desk next to him. Had she always sat there? No, he didn't think so. In fact, she had _never_ sat there. She was doing this on purpose, to irritate him! He was in a mood where everyone was suspicious, everyone was trying to push him to boiling point.

"What," he snapped bitterly towards Rin's general direction, "do you want _now_?"

The studious blonde looked vaguely surprised, and irritated at the same time. "N-Nothing," she snapped back. "I was t-transferred to this s-seat t-today, Mr. Observational."

He almost strangled her. "Whatever. Just keep your mouth shut."

"Why?" She crossed her arms defiantly, huffing. "Why_ sh-should_ I l-listen t-to you?"

Len nearly preferred quiet, overly polite Rin over this. But there was something, dare he say it, undeniably attractive about a Rin with a whole lot of attitude.

Holy crap, what was he even saying? This was pathetic. At this rate, Rin was going to accomplish what she'd set out for.

Len sat back, and the desk squeaked as he absentmindedly gazed outside, lost in thought for a few minutes. Why _did_ he look for perfection? It was some sort of quest for him, a life goal. There had to be some perfect girl out there for him, right?

Len would have liked to say it was his mother's fault. Ever since he was a little boy, he had disappointed his mother. She'd always wanted a beautiful little baby girl with blue eyes and blond hair, which would be her second little girl. Her first child was Lenka, and Lenka was in college now. Lola desperately wanted to care for another little girl again. She'd tried once more after Len, but with his father's unexpected death, she was 'stuck' with Len. It had broken a little boy's heart, but Lola was relentless.

Since he was five, Lola had wanted Len to be perfect. He'd gotten stellar grades, he was the top of his class. He played piano with skill and grace, and violin as well. He could cook, he could clean, he helped with family chores, but it was never enough.

"Why aren't you the top of your _school_? Why can't you play _band_ instruments and _sing_ as well? You can cook, but you can't _bake_ anything- like cake and cookies. You can do the chores, but the house must be _constantly_ clean." Len could even see the smug satisfaction on her aging face when she told him he was worthless.

Len couldn't wait to move out.

He wondered, then, was this the reason? Was his mother the reason he searched so futilely for a perfect woman? Had she set the standards by which Len would judge the girls to come? Len's fingers curled against his mouth as he thought, and then he angled his head to look at Rin for a minute.

Her flaws were clear. She was nibbling her thumbnail. She bit her nails. Tapped her foot. Pulled her hair in thought. Stammered. She had such annoying little... Habits.

But Len, this time, forced himself to look past Rin's flaws. He screwed his eyes shut for a second, cleared away every thought of Rin's imperfections, and then, empty-minded, looked at her again.

His mouth parted slightly in surprise. Once he got past the little habits and her overall figure, and even her dark blue glasses, he saw that she had very pretty eyes- pools of blue, the irises flecked with little aquamarine and silver speckles. Her eyelashes were long, golden crescents casting little shadows on her cheeks. Her face was not angled at all- heart shaped, in fact. Her hair, despite its unattractive presentation, all pulled back and jabbed with clips in random places, was soft and silky-looking. Pouty, bow-shaped lips and slender, gentle hands. No nails because she constantly bit them, but... That could be overlooked. And she was very, very smart.

Len blinked again and those beautiful eyes had vanished behind her glasses. All he could think about now were her small imperfections again. She glanced at him, eyes narrowed slightly, and he sharply looked away.

"Will you stop that." He asked, demanded through gritted teeth.

"S-Stop what?" She glanced at him with puzzled eyes.

Len refrained his hardest from snapping out a harsh "everything." Instead, he murmured what he thought was most important. "Tapping your leg."

"Huh? O-Oh." She nodded and ceased the tapping, one palm against her knee to stop it from bouncing. Len glanced at her attempt to stop and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. It was clearly going to be a long, difficult day for him.

**[...]**

"Take a picture for me, Rin, please." Lily turned, exposing the backless dress to Rin. Rin hastily snapped the picture, no-flash, and handed the camera back to her mother. "Does this dress look okay?"

Rin's mother was thirty-four years old, and had had Rin at age eighteen. Rin's father had left them when Rin was born, claiming that he hadn't been ready to have Rin to begin with. He'd also claimed that Rin wasn't the boy he'd wanted either.

Rin, smiling sadly, snapped yet another picture of her mother. "Yeah, Mom. It looks perfect," she said truthfully. Her mom was the epitome of beautiful, a supermodel with dark, azure eyes and a perfect white smile. It was a wonder that Rin was her daughter. Two people couldn't be more different.

Marion twirled one silky golden lock away from her collarbone with a single white French manicured nail and placed her slender hand on her hip, turning to show only her face to the camera.

"Are you sure?" Her mother persisted through her teeth, still smiling. Unsurely, she picked at the red dress she was wearing and her redsmile drooped a little at the ends. "Oh, Rinny, it's _awful_, isn't it?"

"No, mom!" Rin protested. It had taken her mother seventeen years of work to get to where she was today, and it wasn't in vain. Marion was absolutely stunning. Just the opposite of Rin. "Mom, you have a serious confidence problem, you look awesome. Would I lie to you?"

Her mother bit her lip. "No?" She asked, as more of a question, and sheepishly lowered her head at her daughter's exasperation. "No, I guess not. Oh, sweetheart, I'm so worried about this shoot that it's keeping me up at night." She glanced at her waist, wrapping her arms around it. "How I wish I was as slender as you, Rin!"

Rin blushed as she ducked underneath a dress rack. "Mom! Besides, at least you have a ..." She blushed even harder. "_Chest_."

"Oh, you're so silly." Her mother totally ignored that part and cocked her body towards Rin. "Okay, how about one more, and then you get dressed for tonight's dinner?"

Rin swallowed nervously, almost dropping the camera. "Um... Dinner?"

"Yeah," Marion said casually, picking at an invisible dust speck off of her shoulder. She seemed suddenly determined to avoid her daughter's lightly suspicious gaze. "You will come, right?"

"I'm guessing the paparazzi will be there." Rin said quietly, plainly. Her mother's face dropped a little.

"Yes, I suppose." Her mother stared at her shoes, thin eyebrows drawn together, and changed the subject. "Hey, Rinny. Do you think I should wear black shoes or red shoes or...?"

"How about pretty nude to white strappy heels? It's sophisticated and will give you a leg-lengthening look, Mom." Rin said absently, helping her mother out having become her second nature. She circled her mother delicately, looking up and down her tall frame. "Also with nude pantyhose, since the dress is a bit short."

Her mother grinned at her. "You're the best, Rinny. I don't know what I would do without you! Now if _only_ you could get over your _fear_ of flashing lights, then I could tell the world about my little fashion expert!

_"How can someone so plain and unremarkable be Marion's daughter?"_

_"I don't know, but it's a great story! I bet she's adopted. They obviously can't be related."_

Rin sighed, rubbing her eyes, and set down the measuring tape and camera. "Just go enjoy yourself, Mom." She said faintly, giving her mother a warm smile. Only at home could she speak comfortably without her stutter or anything like that. No nervousness, no nail biting, tapping, anything like that. At home, she was confident to help her mother with her various fashion questions. "I have a lot of homework." Just imagine if someone knew what kind of person Rin was at home, besides Miku and Mikuo.

"_Oh_, all right sweetheart. Thank you so much for helping me! I'll head out early since you're not coming, then!" Marion gave her daughter a fleeting hug and a quick kiss before throwing her white purse over her shoulder. Rin heard the garage door slam shut and returned to her original spot on the couch.

Their house was, as usual, a complete clutter. Dresses everywhere, the sewing machine placed haphazardly on the floor with needles in a small pile and threads unraveling. Rin sighed, lying back.

If it weren't for the stupid paparazzi and their degrading remarks, their flashing lights... They almost reminded her of Len. Len, who could find every flaw and hurt you with it. Just like that- the paparazzi found those flaws, locked, targeted, and hurt Rin.

It was because of them that she'd developed the stutter, the little nervous habits. It was because of them that she wasn't hurt by, in fact, immune to Len's biting insults. It was because of them that Rin had felt so trapped by Len's gaze, his sharp, scrutinizing glare. But no one needed to know that.

That was _her_ secret.

**[...]**

As Len was walking home, he had somewhat of an epiphany in regards to the question he'd been asking himself: what was he looking for?

_Not what. Who._

Len remembered a day, long ago. Nine years ago, to be precise, when his mother had left him at the park with a friend. The friend had left about ten minutes ago, and eight year old Len was wandering around the park, bored.

There was a bench littered with little flower petals from the tree above; a cherry blossom, actually. He noticed that there was a figure sitting there; a very small girl with her hands over her eyes. As he neared her, he saw that she was crying uncontrollably. She must have been only seven. Len wanted to backtrack and run away. He hated when girls cried. But this little girl seemed to have lost it completely.

He dropped onto the bench beside her, figuring he should make some sort of awkward conversation.

"Um..." He spoke up, and the girl squeaked, looking up. Her eyes were puffy and her features otherwise plain. But those blue eyes were really, really pretty. "Wh-What's wrong?" Boy, he felt stupid.

She sniffled, pulling her arm across her eyes. "D-Do you think I'm p-pretty?"

Well.

That was unexpected.

Len stuttered as he tried to pull an answer together. She wasn't incredibly beautiful, but her eyes were so bright, like little stars. She'd begun to sniffle again.

"Yes," he said truthfully. "Why?"

"My mommy is b-beautiful," she said mournfully, tears still streaming down her face. "Nobody thinks that I sh-should be her k-kid." She rubbed her eyes. "They said I'm really p-p-plain and not that p-p-pretty."

Upon hearing this, Len felt kind of indignant. "Who said that to you?"

"The..." Her face scrunched up as if she was confused, her nose wrinkling. Len was mystified at this action and, in fact, thought it was kind of... cute. "P-Parapizza!"

"Parapizza?" Len gave her a bemused look; he had no idea what that was. "_What_ is the parapizza?"

"They," the little girl mimed taking a picture of Len, "they t-take p-pictures of my m-mommy cause she's f-famous." She dropped her hands as Len glanced at her at the word _famous_. "They're really m-mean," the little blonde whimpered.

Len was even more taken aback. "A bunch of pizzas take pictures?"

She stared at him, and then covered her mouth. Her shoulders shook, and then Len knew he did something wrong. He winced, looking away.

"H-Hey, don't cry-"

A sound escaped the little girl's mouth and Len looked back up, surprised. She was...

_Laughing_.

Giggles burst from her, peals of laughter that rung like little bells. Her entire face lit up wonderfully, in a way that brought stars to her eyes.

Len had to grin at her bright face. She looked so much prettier when she laughed.

"They're not p-p-pizzas, silly." She was still giggling. "They're p-p-people who take p-pictures. They're just c-called the p-parapizza. Also I th-think I'm s-saying it wrong. It's s-_something_ like that." She smiled at him, but that smile faded. "They t-told me t-t-to g-go away b-because I was in the way f-for mommy's p-pictures and I stammer. Mommy d-doesn't know I'm here." Her shoulders drooped. "I don't b-belong th-there."

"You're right." Len said with conviction. "You don't." Her lower lip trembled, so he barrelled on. "You belong here, laughing under the cherry blossom tree!" He'd noticed the speech impediment, but he didn't really care that much. Back then, he'd never noticed what he did in the present.

She brightened again. "You r-really think?"

"I know!" He said earnestly. "So you don't like pictures?" She bit her lip.

"You won't l-l-laugh?" She murmured. When he shook his head, she looked down shyly. "I'm s-s-scared of c-camera f-flashes and b-bright lights."

He didn't laugh. "That's okay, you know. I'm scared of clowns." It was embarrassing, he knew, but she nodded like she understood. "So you can't be there when the people take pictures."

The girl shrugged sadly. "They s-said I'm a b-bother to m-mommy, s-so I l-left."

Len patted her hand, and she rubbed her eyes again.

"Th-Thanks," she said warmly. "For t-telling me that I b-belong s-s-somewhere. I sh-should g-go t-tell my mommy I m-met someone a-awesome today."

"Who?" Len asked, bewildered, and she giggled. Hey, he wasn't exactly the smartest kid around.

"You, si-lly." She leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, and then turned, racing down the sidewalk in her white sundress. Len touched his burning cheek and thought he might just melt to death.

"Wait!" He called after her, "what's your name?"

But she was already gone, and all he had was a fleeting kiss on the cheek and warm laughter.

Presently, as Len walked into his empty house, he wasn't sure why he remembered the sweet girl in a white sundress. He well remembered their exchange, yet even after years of coming back to the park and its bench, he never saw her there any more.

Was she the perfect girl, maybe? Len noted that she had stuttered... Just like... Well, Rin. In fact, as Len's mind raced, he recalled certain aspects of the girl that were just like Rin.

Len stopped thinking for a moment to whip himself up something to snack on. As he blended frozen berries, milk, and a banana together, he heard the phone ring.

_Lenka; XXX-XXX-XXXX_

"Hello." He answered shortly to his sister, searching for a glass.

"Hi, Lenny-bear! Whatcha doing?" Len sighed; it seemed he would never get his sister to quit with the awful nicknames.

"Making a smoothie," he said, slightly disgruntled. He and his sister hardly fought, and Len was obviously nicer to her than he was to other girls. He took a sip.

"Len, how busy are you during Christmas vacation?" He heard her yawn and she continued, "Sorry. Really tired. You have it in one and a half months, right?"

"Er, yeah. Why?" Len asked suspiciously, and Lenka laughed.

"Don't have to sound so accusing!" She teased. "I just wanted to invite you over. We can walk around Tokyo, whatever. You game?"

"Tokyo, huh." Len murmured. It sounded very appealing. "Just us?"

"Well, here's the catch- I have four tickets. One for me and my boyfriend, one for you... So... In one month, find someone other than mom to take, or the deal's off."

Len glared at the phone. "You're implying again, Lenka, that I have no friends." He said coolly.

"Len!" His sister sounded appalled, but she was an excellent actress. "You should be thrilled that I'm allowing you to bring someone else other than a parental unit."

Len sighed. "If I don't?"

Lenka's voice dropped to a threateningly low pitch.

"I will bring my friend Miki and we will dress you up as a girl- makeup and all." Len cringed a little, but icily said,

"Fine. I'll find someone to take to Tokyo." He raised his eyes upward. "Anything else?"

"Can I talk to mom?"

"She's still at the big corporation meeting thing." Len muttered. "_You_ have to tell her though," he continued flatly. "I don't want to argue with her."

At first, all he heard was light, erratic breathing, but then Lenka said, "Fine, fair enough. Catch you on the flip side, baby brother!"

Before he could growl something unkind and degrading at her, his sister had hung up. Len sighed and placed the phone in its dock.

He sat on the couch and flipped on the TV. Some sort of special dinner was going on, and a famous supermodel was speaking to the paparazzi.

"Where's your daughter?" They called, and the stunning woman laughed. Len could see a sort of chill in her eyes towards the paparazzi, however.

"She doesn't like these events, you know?"

Len was about to change the channel when he heard something.

_"Afraid of cameras and bright lights-"_

What?

He flipped back to the channel to hear the paparazzi laughing uproariously.

"Afraid of bright lights and cameras! When her mother is so famous! How silly."

The supermodel's smile was quite cool.

"But it makes sense, because she's not very photogenic, right, Ricky?"

"Of course, Teesh!" Ricky chuckled, and Len was taken aback, shocked by the familiarity.

_"My mommy's really pretty. They're so mean. They say I'm plain and not very pretty. I'm scared of camera lights and bright flashes."_

He looked for a name for the supermodel, but the inevitable happened.

A power outage.

Len wanted to yell at the TV in frustration, but instead, he threw the useless remote on the couch and scowled, glowering at the screen. For once, he wished he kept up with 'news' like this. He drained down the rest of the smoothie, then went to clean the dishes and start his homework. He had to work really hard this time to put everything out of his mind.

...And tried his best to wipe a little girl out of his mind.

Unsuccessfully.

**[...]**

"You're seeing this, right?" Mikuo pointed at the screen in outrage with the remote, tossing it onto the couch. "Those gossip-hungry sharks with too much makeup are basically having a let's-bash-Rin holiday here!" The power outage had just cleared, and the event was over. The cameras had finally moved on from her mother's dinner and instead to the speaker.

Rin sunk deeper, fingers running through her hair. She'd let her hair down from its clip confines and it felt better. She'd also abandoned her glasses, revealing, finally, her bright eyes. Mikuo glanced at her, and then down. She looked so much prettier at home, but he was glad. No one else had to see this side of Rin.

"Ugh!" Miku grunted, tossing the remote far away, and glanced at her best friend. "Are you seriously okay with this... Crap?" She demanded to know, and Rin rolled her eyes to the ceiling.

"I don't care," she murmured, "as I've told you before."

"It's not nice to make fun of other people's fears!" Miku burst out, glaring savagely at the TV.

"It's not nice to make fun of other people, _period_." Mikuo grumbled. A small smile graced Rin's face.

"You guys care more than me, you know." She lazily opened her eyes and stuck her tongue out. "Come on, let it go."

"Fine." Miku spat, turning the TV off. "Anyway!" She announced, taking over a suddenly cheerful mood. Behind her happy face lurked some sort of menace, however. "The winter dance is coming up eventually, and then Christmas break! Ideas?"

"I'm staying here." Rin said abruptly. "My mom has a winter "Deck the Hall" shoot. My hands are tied."

"No, silly. I meant dates." Miku rolled her eyes, looking between her brother and best friend. Both were avidly avoiding her eyes. "Omigosh, why do I even hang out around you two?"

"You love us?" Rin suggested in a sheepish voice.

"_You_ don't know how to communicate with any male but Mikuo and possibly Len," Miku pointed at Rin, scowling, "and we'll just have to work on that. And _you_," she turned on her brother, who answered with a scowl of his own, "well, _you_ just have no excuse at all. You're just a sad sap. Man up already!"

Rin swung her gaze to him, eyes brightening. "You like someone, Kuo?" He hastily looked away, instead opting to glare at Miku.

"Butt out." He snapped at his sister. "God."

"Even a god couldn't help you now." Miku covered her face. "As for me, I already have a date, thanks for asking." She sniffed as Rin sat up.

"Really?" Her friend couldn't hide the imminent curiosity in her soft voice. "Who is it?"

"Well I'm not telling either of you a word until one of you has a date." Miku glared at Mikuo. "And if you do your job well, that shouldn't even be a problem!"

"Will you just-" Mikuo made a slicing motion across his neck, glaring at her. "Shut up!"

Miku threw her hands up. "I am surrounded by _idiots_."

"Well, sorry!" Rin grumbled. "But I can't do anything about my problem!"

"You wouldn't have to, if Mikuo would just-" Miku began to grumble, but his wicked glare in her direction ceased her flow of chatter. Rin shook her head.

"You both have screws loose," she laughed and stood up. "Either way, I don't even know if I'll go to the dance. I never go to dances."

"You have to get over it, Rin! This... Anxiety problem." Miku glanced at her friend, worried. "It could develop into a full disorder. I'm worried about you!"

"I'm just a little shy," Rin said defensively. "And only in front of a crowd of people, you know." The suspicious glance that Mikuo shot Miku did not go unnoticed by Rin. "Well, fine! I don't care." She grumbled indignantly, searching for her glasses.

"Can't you just _ask _her? Like, you know, ask, 'Hey! Want to go to the dance with me?'" Miku was snapping in the background.

"It's not that easy!" Mikuo returned angrily.

"Besides," and now Rin's voice was quiet and melancholy as Mikuo and Miku argued over their menial subjects, namely, the courage to ask someone to a dance, "if no one else cares about _me_, why should _I_ care so much about myself?"

* * *

**Phew~ Done! So... This is kind of an important chapter, so please, please leave me feedback! I love you all and I'm really glad I have you guys to support me for my stories^^**

Lots of love!

**~'Lias**


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